I’m an advisor, speaker and author writing about the intersection of money and life. I’m not spouting untested philosophy—I work with clients and advisors as a Wealth Advisor and the Director of Personal Finance for Buckingham and the BAM Alliance, a community of investors and advisors who've discovered a better way to take control of financial futures and achieve life's most important goals. I’m thankful to have had my guidance vetted by one of the world’s best publishers through my book co-authored with Jim Stovall, "The Ultimate Financial Plan" (John Wiley & Sons). Most importantly, I’m living this stuff out in my foremost roles in life as a husband and father. A student of communication, I enjoy the practice in television (CNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox) radio (NPR) and print (featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Kiplinger’s and Money magazines, among others).

10 Ways Budgeting Saved My Marriage

5. It cuts down on surprises. So many aspects of our life are subject to variability and volatility. We can’t necessarily reduce the number of those surprises, but we can certainly reduce their negative impact by being financial prepared for them. Financial strain, and especially shock, pushes many marriages to (and over) the brink.

4. It makes us better parents. All of us parents could probably agree that it’s possible to spend too little OR too much on our children, right? We’re responsible to determine what the right levels of spending are for our children, and budgeting allows us to deliberately set aside appropriate levels of funding for education, clothing, sports, music and fun.

3. It shows our dependence on each other. Andrea and I do think very differently, and this inevitably leads to divisive thoughts like these: “You know, I think I could do this better on my own!” But this decries the very essence of marriage as an institution in which each partner’s primary objective is to serve the other. The process of budgeting puts our (literal and emotional) dependence on each other on full display. That makes us vulnerable, but it’s good.

2. It preserves a healthy level of independence. The income production in most households is almost never perfectly equitable. Andrea sacrificed a successful career in the financial industry when she chose to stay home with our young children. This has been an incredible blessing in our family, but it’s also a breeding ground for insecurity and manipulation as I might have a tendency to overestimate my contribution to the family’s finances and underestimate Andrea’s. It is imperative, then, that part of our budget is the preservation of a certain amount of financial independence for each spouse. To offset this income inequity, we’ve established “His and Hers” accounts with unilateral privileges. Many shun budgeting as too restrictive, but properly implemented, it actually gives us room to breathe financially, and we all need room to breathe.

1. It preserves date night! One of the interactions I’ve enjoyed most throughout my career was with a client who is a generation or two my senior. He and his wife have five kids(!) and appear to be more in love today than they’ve ever been. So at the close of one meeting, I got up the nerve to ask this gentleman what his secret to marriage and parenting was. His answer? They never fail to set aside time—and money—for each other as a couple. He made a convincing case that we are better parents when we deliberately setting aside time to be together, away from the kids, and not just for date nights, but also long-weekends and even week-long vacations to remind ourselves that before we were parents we were lovers. This proved especially difficult for Andrea and me because by the time we got to the end of most months, we’d already spent our discretionary cash on the rest of life and felt like we were taking funding away from other things to line-up a babysitter and enjoy a night or weekend out. So now, much as we have preserved His and Hers accounts, we also have an Ours account.

Budgeting is not the slightest bit romantic, but it has the ability to promote and preserve the romance in our marriages and keep us on the right side of that daunting 50% divorce statistic. There are as many good ways to manage this process as there are couples, and I’d love to hear some of the ways budgeting has helped preserve YOUR marriage also, so please share your story in the comments section!

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Ben, I believe Mint.com and YNAB.com are two of the best, if not THE two best. Mint is easier to get started and work with, but YNAB offers, in my opinion, the best option for the serious budgeter who is ready to dedicate themselves wholly to the process and, in turn, get the most out of it.

For nearly 30 yrs of marriage, my wife could not have cared less how much we had in the bank. She had no interest in a budget whatsoever, and still doesn’t. She has always been careful with money. She shops carefully, and spends wisely. She never shops big ticket items without checking with me. Maurer expressed concern he might overestimate his contribution and underestimate his wife’s. Obviously a family needs income. But careful outlays are just as important. Years ago, there was the “Pennypincher Gazette” series of books. One premise they offered was that if you needed one more dollar in your pocket, it was easier to save $1, than it was to earn $2 more, and give up half of it in taxes and other expense. My wife was a stay at home mom for our 4 kids. The “baby” left for college last fall. I promise, you will make it!

Tim – I enjoyed your piece and just posted it on my blog, Marital Musings (http://maritalmusings.com). I do actually think financial planning as a couple can be romantic. It shows your commitment to a future together. Working with my husband on our finances makes me feel like we are more of a team (as your article suggests). What’s more romantic than that?

I was living with my husband for 5 years and everything was moving so fine. until one morning a call came in and when i picked the call, a ladies spoke to me saying he wants to speak with my husband and when i asked who she is, she said that she is a girlfriend to my husband and she asked me too who i was, for me not to curse any dispute, i lied to her, so when my husband came back i asked him he lied to me, that night i was so down, i broke in tears and left the house for finding out that my husband is cheating on me, but i loved him so much, i thought of what to do to make him love me passionately, so a friend gave me clue on what to do that i should contact spell caster, So i went into search in the Internet so fortunately i found good testimonies on how this prophet harry has helped a lot of people in my condition, so i contacted prophetharry@ymail.com and he worked a spell on me and my husband, getting back my husband was the most important thing i was after, this spell worked like nothing I had ever seen in my life .after 3 days of the spell was casted my husband came begging me to come back home, he promised to be faithful to me and promised never to cheat on me again, I’m happy now and free. my problems are solved “I have never experienced anything like this. I never expected such a reaction. Jenny G

I live in united state, Two years ago i married a lady called saline, we had two children together, we were very happy to be husband and wife, so when i travel on business trip to Brazil, i spent 1 years in Brazil due to my kind of business, i and my wife talked on phone all the time, we chat on the Internet, i never knew that my wife had started cheating on me by going out with her old school friend called mark, i never knew something was going wrong till i came back from my trip, then i and My wife started having problems, she goes out and come back late at night, she changed in a strange way that i could not endure, i tried to do everything to please her but it got worst, so one day she left the house and never came back, i tried reaching her but no way i could reach her, i never knew she traveled with her new lover which was mark, i wanted her so much because of the children she left for me and because i loved her so much too, because of the heart break she put me into, i went into search of a real magic spell caster I was scammed twice by a spell caster, but I never relented in my search because I want a happy life with my wife, so one morning i saw testimony about a spell caster prophet harry, so i contacted him and to my greatest surprise this prophetharry@ymail.com made life manful for me again, my wife came back to me, i took her back and I am now settled with my wife by the magic power of prophet harry spell . James moon

Hello viewers, i want to use this little of my testimony to tell everybody about how Dr. Moses help me make my home… My name is Anna from Australia, to caught it all shot i was having a family problems my husband left me because i was not able to give him a child, i have know other solution than to start sicking for help praying and fasting for God to help me bring back my husband and to have a child of my own, so one day i saw Dr. Moses name on the internet with his email address (thegodsofsolution@gmail.com) when i saw this email address i never loose any hope again, i contacted him for help, to end the story he help me bring back my husband to me under four days and to my greatest surprise he prophesied and said i we have my own child and celebrate with others as a mother, am three months pregnant now and my husband is now with me without any problem, please viewers help me to thank Dr. Moses Iyere for making my home a happy one. Please contact Dr. Moses Iyere at (thegodsofsolution@gmail.com) he is a good man and a prophet, he can help you in any kind of problems please don’t pass this email address if you really want your problems to be solved thanks..

My name is mrs. Santana Valdez from Houston,taxes.i never believed in love spells or magic until i met this spell caster once. when i went to Africa in May 28TH MAY 2013 this year on a business summit. i ment a man called dr. Atakpo.He is powerful he could help you cast a spells to bring back my love’s gone,misbehaving lover looking for some one to love you, bring back lost money and magic money spell or spell for a good job.i’m now happy & a living testimony cos the man i had wanted to marry left me 3 weeks before our wedding and my life was upside down cos our relationship has been on for 2 years… i really loved him, but his mother was against me and he had no good paying job. so when i met this spell caster, i told him what happened and explained the situation of things to him..at first i was undecided,skeptical and doubtful, but i just gave it a try. and in 6 days when i returned to taxes, my boyfriend (is now my husband ) he called me by himself and came to me apologizing that everything had been settled with his mom and family and he got a new job interview so we should get married..i didn’t believe it cos the spell caster only asked for my name and my boyfriends name and all i wanted him to do… well we are happily married now and we are expecting our little kid,and my husband also got a new job and our lives became much better. in case anyone needs the spell caster for some help, email address atakpotemble@yahoo.com

Great Atakpo i thank you very much thank you in 1000000 times.. if not you i would have been losted and wasted thank you. Email Him Through his email address… atakpotemble@yahoo.com

please make sure you contact him for any financial difficulties okay..

What a powerful man such as Dr Atakpo.. he is so much powerful..\\ email him for any difficulties.. atakpotemble@yahoo.com

My Name is candy mark.my boyfriend and I broke up almost three days ago after being together for 3 year and 6 months. I am having a really hard time and feel like I’m getting depressed. We have talked everyday since breaking up and said we’ll be friends. But I can’t stop thinking about him and every memory we have together. When we talk to each other still in person it’s like nothing has changed except the fact that I can’t kiss him or touch him. It’s hard cause my mom and his mom think we’ll get back together and say it’s just a break not a break up. We broke up because he was unhappy because when we would argue I would get mean and call him a jerk or a jackass, I’m extremely shy around his family and his mom said I’ve never thanked them. I feel so bad for doing those things and I told him that I can change that. I will never call him names, and I can become more talkative around his family and I will apologize to his mother. I talked to his mother yesterday and apologized to her and she wasn’t even mad. How do I get him back.one day a friend of my came to my house and told me of a woman called priest grace. i thought of it and i said to my self let me give her a try and told her my problem and she told me 24 hours time he will call me i never believed her till today am a happy person now. you can steel be in disame problem all you need to do is to contact her on email Gracerelationshipspell@gmail.com?

A big thanks to DR atakuma, who brought back my ex girlfriend. My name is samson Benard, from Canada. Last year, August 26th 2012, I proposed to my ex girlfriend and she agreed to marry me then we both planned for the wedding. Our wedding was to hold September 30th. We had a little misunderstanding and she left me for another guy. I almost committed suicide; I never knew there was hope for me, a friend of mine would always advise me to be hopeful and that one day she will come back to me, Some times I will go to her house to ask for forgiveness to come back to me because she really means a lot to me and I love her so much and she will ask me to leave her alone and I should never come to her house again. I found it really hard to fall in love with another girl, months passes by and I was waiting patiently for her to come back to me but in my heart I was still going through hell, there was a big hole in my heart. * *One morning I received a call from my friend and he told me to come to his house immediately, I quickly put on my clothes and ran to his house because I felt he was in trouble, when I got to he’s house, I met him on his computer system and I ask him what the problem was, he said when he was browsing through the internet, he came across some testimonies on how a spell caster brought someone’s ex husband back. I was angry with him because he frightened me and now he’s telling about spell caster. I told him to forget about the matter because I never believed in spell casters, he asked me if I really want my ex girlfriend to come back to me and I said yes so he said I should give it a try because if you really need something that is very important to your life, then you go for it. I agreed to what he said and I took the spell casters email address and I emailed him, few minutes later he replied me and asked what can he do for me so I told him what I wanted and he asked me to do what ever he asked of me which I did. He told me not to worry that my ex girlfriend will come back crawling on her kneels asking for forgiveness as soon as he cast the spell so he cast the spell and the following day my ex girlfriend came back to me, right now I and my girlfriend are happy. This is the reason I decided to put it in writing so that anybody that is hopeless will find the reason to be hopeful. If you are in the same situation, DR atakuma is the right spell caster that will solve your problem, You can email him on: atakumaoracle@gmail.com. try and see what he can do